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I will start GMing Plunder and Peril for PFS for a group. Since modules dont have an official PFS intro, I made a venture captain briefing and knowledge checks to introduce players into the module.
Before I post it on the GM shared Prep site, I am posting it here, hoping some feedback will improve it.
If there are any grammatical errors, let me know. English is not my first language (in case anyone wonders, I'm Dutch).
Now, in the pre-dawn mist, a ship docks before you. A motley crew starts to quickly unload crates, while fellow Pathfinder load them into carts before driving off.
You are quickly ushered aboard the Grinning Pixie.
Once the Pixie makes it out of port, Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry calls you into her cabin. Half a head taller then most humans, she's an intimidating sight to see. Waving away any complaint or question you might have, she motions you to sit down.
“Listen to me well. Recently the Arcadian Mariner's Lodge picked up some rumors. Actually, they were barely that. More like whispers. Whispers in the dark. But the Decemvirate found those whispers to be very exiting. And that is why you and I are here.”
Benarry paces trough her cabin. “The rumors that reached the Decemvirate ears pertained to the lost treasure of the legendary captain Jemma Redclaw. Long thought lost, some people have been whispering that the location of the treasure has been found.”
The captain slightly pouts, “the Decemvirate isnt interested in the treasure itself.”
She sighs deeply. “Their actual interest in is its location. Many songs and legends exist about captain Redclaw, but not much is known about where she had her lair. The most consistent rumor is that she hid herself in some ancient ruins.” She raises an sarcastic eyebrow, “and we wouldn't be the Pathfinder Society without some healthy interest in some dusty ruins, now would we?”
Finally Benarry sits down. She folds her fingers together, looking at you seriously. “That's about the most I can tell you. Anything more is speculation. I am to take you to a town called Lillywhite. We should arrive in time for the annual Rum Punch festival. That will give you some cover. But once I drop you off, you're on your own. I would stand out like a Gnome at an Orc barbecue. Chances are that you will need to muster on a pirate ship to get to where you need to go.”
Benarry's eyes glimmer and she grins. “Now I know you are not exactly a professional sailer, and that might impair your chances. But dont worry. Its a few weeks until we reach the shackles. I'll make a privateer out of you yet.”
Knowledge checks.
Knowledge Local
15+ The Rum Punch Festival is an annual religious tradition honoring Cayden Cailean that is celebrated primarily along the western coast of Garund. It commemorates a Sargavan slave escape that occurred in 4686 AR at the port of Crown’s End. The escape involved three large slaver ships crammed full of slaves captured from Sargavan docks and the Bandu Hills, bound for sale at the slave markets of Bloodcove. Prior to setting sail, the crews of the ships gathered for a celebratory drink, each consuming a few mugs of rum. Surprisingly, the crews of all three ships got roaringly drunk despite consuming no more rum than usual. Many slavers fell unconscious in positions that left their key rings dangling within reach of the slaves in the ships’ holds. As the slaves freed themselves, five small seabirds flew past the ship. A few worshipers of the Lucky Drunk among the escapees took the amazing potency of the rum as a sign that Cayden Cailean had intervened to give them a chance to free themselves, and believed the five birds had been sent by his herald Thais. As a result, the escaped slaves followed the birds and eventually found a small beached ship that they managed to launch and sail to the Shackles.
The story spread, and Cayden’s faithful began celebrating the anniversary of the escape a few years later. As the tradition grew, it came to be named for the power of the rum that had given the escapees their chance at freedom. The festival is still most common in the Shackles, though it has begun to slowly spread elsewhere in the Inner Sea.
20+ Lillywhite is a small town on Motaku island.The Rum Punch festival is an honored tradition. The celebration involve not only heavy drinking, but also several drinking challanges and a parade, celebrating the slave escape. Its a festival beloved by all, and not participating might actually draw unwanted attention.
Knowledge history, arcana.
15+ Jemma Reclaw was earlier known as Jemma Redblade. With her Ship the Fearsome Tide and a secret base of operations, she attacked any target she wished—including other pirate ships. Her fame and influence spread, until the day she grew overconfident and assaulted Bloodcove with a single ship. Redblade was badly defeated and she lost an arm in the ensuing battle, but still she managed to escape with most of her crew alive.
20+ Jemma Redblade was not seen for a year after her defeat at Bloodcove. When she returned she had a new crew on the Fearsome Tide, and her arm had been replaced by a fearsome red metal claw, earning her the name that would become legend: Jemma Redclaw.
25+ For the origin of her clockwork arm, Jemma Redclaw herself told various inconsistent stories: that she’d had it custom-built in Alkenstar, stumbled across it while in Numeria, or even stolen it from the Red Redoubt of Karamoss outside Absalom.